Testing New Steel
---- Winter air swirled around Aaron as he stood at the double doors of a large concrete building. There was a large wooden sign above the doors that read, "Crocus Mage Gym: Swords and Other Weaponry Focus". It didn't take long to find the gym, he only needed to ask one person in the bustling city. Having arrived from his adventure in Othrys, and his acquisition of the ore known as Black Steel, he wanted to test it. Under normal circumstances, he would have gone to his mentor Etherion, or his guildmate Elizabeth. These weren't those circumstances. The steel that now coated the blades that hung on his left hip, was strong and sharp enough to cut through plenty of other metals, as well as withstand magical attacks that would destroy normal steel. To further indicate his unusual visit to the gym, he was wearing a dark blue tank top with red accents along the ribs and underarms, and some grey and black workout pants. In the brisk weather, his attire earned many a confused stare and several questions if he was cold. In fact, he was quite warm, his dragon biology and the heat aura he kept around him made him warm. Taking a breath he walked into the gym and immediately noticed the smell of sweat, steel, and a little bit of blood. This smell guaranteed that several battles were going on in the gym. Walking down a path through the hallways of the massive building he heard a few grunts from one of the open doors. There was a spar in progress. A lithe woman with a glinting blade against two others. Her movements were near perfect as she combated her aggressors. Maybe she would be a good opponent. He thought to himself as he watched her. Wren's hair whipped against her back in its ponytail as she backstepped, parrying Mason's blows. She quickly turned the tide of the fight, stepping forward to catch his blade against hers. Wren forced his arm to a painful angle in which he promptly dropped the sword, swearing under his breath. "Keep your wrist loose, Mason!" Wren instructed, turning her attention away from him and to Xander. His blow was hammering, sending a jolt through her entire body as she used both of her hands to stave off his superior strength. Wren darted back again, the heavy crash of steel resounding through the room as his heavy blade made contact with the floor. She jumped, a spirit of wind gushing from her bare foot. Wren's body flipped in the air, moving weightlessly over Xander's head to when she touched down again. Her blade settled smoothly in front of his throat. "And that's match." She said cheerfully, the tension of combat dropping from her body. "Thanks for agreeing to this, boys!" Mason and Xander chuckled, picking up their weapons and bags, heading to the door. "Cya next time, Wren." Xander waved. Intrigued by the display he just witnessed he smiled a bit as she defeated both men. At first, he thought the two men were just people she was training until they left the room and he sees them wearing badged that indicated them as instructors. They were instructors, people who did this for a living and she defeated then without much effort. he thought as he entered the room. It couldn't hurt to at least say hello right? "That was a nice match there. Though I just caught the end of it." Wren stretched her sore muscles while Drywrhydd lay on the ground near her. She turned at Aaron's voice, blinking once. "Oh, Thanks!" She replied with a smile. "I'm Aaron by the way. Aaron Fox." He said as he extended his hand to her. "This is my first time in here and I wanted to see what it was like. And find someone cool to spar with." Wren walked across the room to greet him, shaking his hand with a soldier's strength. "Wren Llewellyn." She cocked her head, "This gym is probably the best I've found for some basic practice." "It looks really cool from what I have seen. Although I'm mostly here to test my swords." As he said this he patted the twin blades of his hip and pulled the red one out, showing the black blade. "Although your sword is incredibly beautiful. Not many like it I assume?" Wren eyed the material. "No... That's black steel isn't it?" "That is correct, you can take a closer look if you like. I don't mind." As he spoke he pulled the blade fully out of its sheath revealing its black blade. For the most part, the sword was like any other katana except for the dragon-shaped hilt and the draconic inscription along the base of the blade, just above the guard. She looked at it for a moment. Light glinted off the dark surface and she found no flaws in the craftsmanship. Wren considered a moment, sparing a glance at her own sword laying on the ground. "Do you want to spar with me?" Aaron was caught off guard for a second but then regained his composure. While he hadn't originally come to spar with someone, he was more than happy to get some more practice in. "Sure. I would love to." As he said this he let his left hand fall to his blue sword and gently held his hand out, asking for her to return his blade. Wren placed it back in his hand before retrieving her sword. It was inlaid with four soft purple gems, foreign script circling each one. "So—" She said, propping the flat of the blade against her shoulder, "Just swords, dragon slayer?" Aaron smirked as he put both swords into his right hand undoing the string holding their sheaths to his left hip, letting them clatter to the ground by his feet. He moved the blue sword to his left hand and held the point at Wren and let the right one fall to his side. "Sounds good to me, Elf." Wren didn't hesitate or wait for his stance to change. In a mere moment, she was in front of him, Drywrhydd gripped in two hands as she swung it towards his forehead. Aaron parried with his left, the force of impact like a hammer against his blade. He grit his teeth, shifting the grip on his free hand to a reverse grip. The blade rested against his arm as he spun, slashing at Wren's hip. The blade nearly skimmed her bare abdomen as she flitted backward. Wren hesitated a moment, her head tilting slightly to the left before she thrust it forward. Taking a sidestep Aaron blocked Wren's sword with his left, his arm shaking as he felt the steel against steel contact. Then he took another step forward thrusting his right sword at her hip as he did so. Wren's chest tightened as she stepped out of range again. His skills were superior to those she usually faced here, and combatting dual swords were certainly more challenging regardless. Aaron noticed her pause and decided to let her take a moment. "I have to admit Ms. Wren. You are by far one of the best swordswomen in have had the pleasure of dueling." As he spoke he smiled and bowed his head to her, letting his swords drop to his side. Wren's head jutted immediately back to its bird-like position of curiosity. "You're not bad yourself." Her sword flashed as she spun it once. "You want to take it up a notch?" With a smirk Aaron allowed his blades to take on a red and blue aura respectively. "Sounds like a good idea." He spoke as he rushed his opponent, slashing the glowing red sword at her hip. He doesn't attack high, Wren noted, parrying as her sword took on a silver hue. She lunged forward, falling perfectly into a combination of strikes. First, it was a slash aimed at his left, then a hammering overhead blow. With his blue sword still in a reverse grip, Aaron blocked the strike to his left, using his forearm to support the blade as he blocked it. His red sword was above his head next as she brought down her heaviest blow yet. With an opening now apparent he kicked her in the stomach aiming to push her back. Wren grunted, skitting back from the impact. Her body stung, the kick was sharp enough to forcibly draw the air from her lungs through not enough to hinder her. She shot forward with explosive speed, coating the tip of her blade with a blunt cushion of air as she thrust it forward through his defense. The proximity and speed of the strike made completely dodging it impossible, even with his martial arts skills. The closest he got was swiping his left sword downward, pushing her sword just off center of him, dulling the impact and only pushing him back. "Nice." Moving to attack he fell into his own combo, slashing his left sword high at her neck before spinning and slashing low at her hip with the right. Wren positioned her blade vertically, the first stroke striking near the hilt of her blade. She watched as he spun, the right sword following his rotation into the lower edge of her blade. Seeing the opportunity, Wren lashed out, flicking her wrist as the sword swept upward, aiming to graze from his groin to his neck. With his momentum already going to the right, there was little he could do to totally avoid the slash. Making an attempt he jumped back a bit, the sword only slashing through his shirt. With her sword up he aimed a thrust at her right side. Wren burst forward in a sudden bout of speed, lunging past the blade as she stepped out of its path. She swung her sword down toward's Aaron's neck, knowing at such an angle and react, he wouldn't be able to react in time. The blade sung as it ripped through the air with a quiet woosh, halting an inch from his neck. A gust of wind washed over Aaron after Wren halted her movements. It was cool and refreshing to him as he had built up some sweat from the duel, and was a little disheartened at its climax. However, he wasn't one to push his luck against an opponent who he felt may have been holding back. "You are much better than I had anticipated." Wren shifted back into a neutral position, resting Drywrhydd on her shoulder. "You never bothered to ask me what I did for a living." Taking note of the position of her own sword, Aaron let his drop to his side. "I thought that information might affect how we fought each other. But now that you have won, what is it you do." She cocked her head with a coy smile, "Classified." A light chuckle escaped the man's lips at her response. "Well, regardless. You're a great swordswoman and I commend your skills." As he spoke he bowed his head in respect to the women. Wren rolled her neck with a pop back to a straightened position, "You're not too bad yourself. Enjoy the gym." Category:Roleplay